


it only hurts

by ardynswife



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Dialogue Heavy, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, No graphic descriptions of r/pe, Past Sexual Abuse, Tagged as underage only because it started when she was 17
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-23
Updated: 2020-02-23
Packaged: 2021-02-28 06:27:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,068
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22869358
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ardynswife/pseuds/ardynswife
Summary: venus explains (part) of her story before she met ardyn.
Kudos: 1





	it only hurts

**Author's Note:**

> mostly dialogue until the end.

venus didn’t want to talk about it. she didn’t want to vent to ardyn like he was her therapist, but it had been brought up so many times that it was almost impossible to hide anymore. she hated lying with a passion. she hated keeping things from him but the abuse she suffered those years in the care of those men was the only thing she had kept secret.

“it was right after my mom died,” she had started. her story was a long and dreadful one, covered up by fibs to make it seem less severe than what it had become. “i was more than devastated.”

she sat him down one day when they were not busy. together, in a darkened room with their candles lit during the comfort of night. if she was going to break, it might as well be in a space of relaxation.

“when i was born, my father constantly reminded me that he hated me, and my mom for letting ‘me’ happen... but i was just a baby, so i thought nothing of it. when i was old enough to understand, he was already gone.” 

ardyn listened intently, having no intention on disturbing or interrupting. his hands held hers in a firm grip, and he kept his gaze fixated on her.

“...and before you ask, my hair has always been pink.” she smiles, trying her best to make some light of the situation before she explains the rabbit hole she fell down before meeting him. ardyn gives a small amused grunt. 

“we lived on our own ever since then. we struggled sometimes, like when one of us had a medical emergency, but otherwise we were fine. her death was so sudden...” venus pauses for a moment, taking in a deep breath before continuing. “i was 16 when i found out she had passed. i had no idea what to do. i was on my own, no family left.”

“where did you go?” ardyn couldn’t help but ask.

“thankfully my friend let me stay with her, didn’t even want any rent from me... i still thank her to this day.” she grins.

he smiles as well, glad to at least hear that.

“it had been about a year after she passed that it really set in. celebrated my 17th birthday, and it all went downhill from there. the worst part.” her voice grows grim and her face seems to lose color. ardyn didn’t let that slip from his notice. “i sneaked into a bar. thought about getting a drink, or something. i know, it seems weird, someone like me going into a bar and drinking alcohol.” she was 21 now. 

“i ended up getting in, but didn’t really drink. took a sip and almost vomited it back up.” she laughs out loud. 

“i had noticed that when i let you take a sip of my wine and you gagged.” ardyn quipped, ruffling her hair a bit.

“well, i was about to leave, when this man stopped me... he said i had looked beautiful, lonely, needing of company.” his face scrunched, disturbed by the thought of anyone else complimenting her in such a way. “he suggested that i come with him, he would buy me dinner and stuff. worst fucking mistake of my life.” venus never swears, so ardyn was sure it was getting serious.

“so i went with him. i was convinced i had nothing to lose. i was utterly lost, ardyn. i had no idea what i was getting myself into.” ardyn’s hands squeezed tightly onto hers, bracing for her next words.

venus sighs. “he takes me to a nearby restaurant. everything was fine until i realized he had spiked my drink. next thing i knew, i open my eyes, and i’m in a dark room.” 

his teeth clench tightly in his mouth. he almost didn’t want to hear any more. but something in him wanted to know.

_venus barely cracks open her eyes in the dark room. she feels completely drained, her head pounding and her blood rushing in her ears. she tried to move her hands, but it was to no avail. she scans her eyes around, until a figure steps in front of her._

_“well, good morning, sleepyhead! glad you’re finally awake.” the voice almost went in one ear and out the other, but her brain forced her to listen. “i hoped you wouldn’t sleep through the whole event!”_

_event...? what do you mean event...? she thinks to herself._

_another figure steps into her vision. and another. until there are 3 men in the room. all large and invading her personal space._

_“i wanna go home...” venus whimpers with a gravelly voice. squirming, she whines more._

_“i’m afraid that wont be possible, miss.” a different voice speaks, ringing in her pointed ears. “you just look so pretty, we have to use you at least once.”_

_she’s confused and terrified. i wanna go home, i wanna go lay down..._

_the chains unlock, but instead of chains, hands grip her wrists. she’s pulled up violently, barely standing as shes pressed to a hard body, a firmness pressing into her thigh._

_“we’re just delighted to have you, pet.”_

rage. ardyn feels only rage at these men who have taken her. his face is pure red, his eyebrows furrowed angrily. despite this, he lets her continue.

venus whispers now, any louder and she would shatter. “every single day they raped me. when i woke up, they were using me. before i slept, one of them was on me. i couldn’t stop them, i let it happen. there wasn’t really anything i could do.”

“i mean, they at least spared my most intimate part... it was only in the backside and mouth and stuff... they said they wanted to go there, but it seemed i was saved from that horrible fate.” ardyn knows she means of the day him and venus had met. 

“i had lived in lestallum, but the guy had brought me to niflheim. kept me locked in that place for three years. treated me like their servant and sex toy. slapped me around, pulled at my ears, arms, groped my chest. they robbed my friends house and stole everything i had, pawning it for gil. they made me wear fancy red dresses and a collar every day, gods i looked so awful.” her head tilts up and she stares at nothing.

“they called me kitten. that was their favorite name for me. i despised it, it made me vomit every time they used it.” ardyn suddenly feels disgusted with himself, knowing he too called her kitten. “but... when you say it, it almost feels... right. like you’ve reclaimed it from them.” her face smiles, yet she still doesn’t look down.

ardyn scoots closer to her, within arms reach. he strokes her cheek with his thumb. 

“i never thought i would leave. i thought, this is how i would die.” she whimpers, “but, one day, they made me a niflheim ID. they said i couldn’t go anywhere, but they had it made for me anyway. to give me some hope that maybe one day i would escape that hell, i suppose.” 

his forehead presses into her neck, and she pulls him close, nuzzling her nose in his hair and inhaling his masculine scent as her arms wrap around his shoulders and back.

“a few months later, they told me that there was a gathering, and that everyone would be there. he said that he thought it would be a lovely bonding situation. he also said i looked too pale, and wanted my skin to be tanned once more. said that the ID would be able to get me in.”

“was it legitimate?” he suddenly asks.

“you know... i have no clue. well, even if it wasn’t, it still got me into the event.” she hums, and he nods silently. “perhaps he pulled some strings.”

“but, when i got there, i was surprised that he didn’t keep his eyes on me at all times. well, he did at first, but after a while, it seemed he had went off and tried to find some other girl to target...” she felt guilty, and hoped nobody else was the victim of her suffering.

“and that’s when i bumped into you. i had only heard of your name from those men as they told me what royalty was like. they were nasty towards you, maybe they were just jealous that you were so beautiful, and they were not.” she giggles slightly, fingers running through ardyn’s mass of dark red hair. 

“i would have had no idea... you had just looked so divine, with your dress and hair, the pristine makeup.” he hums, turning his head just a bit so he could speak softly. 

“guess that was the point of dressing me up. so nobody would be able to tell. and i covered all of it with lies. i just... feel so awful. so fake.”

“darling...” he sits up and cups her soft face in his hands. “you are not fake. you never deserved any of that.”

venus lets out a drawn out, sad sigh. “but, i let it happen. i went off with some unknown stranger. if i had just said no--” 

ardyn cuts her off with a stern snap of her name on his tongue. she looks at him, tears threatening to spill from her eyes.

“you were still so young, my love. you couldn’t have known. you were broken, and thought he would be able to help you. _none of this was your fault._ ” he murmurs. 

and that’s when venus shattered. she stared at her lover for a long moment, her mind going blank. then, almost in an instant, her sobs were heavy and echoed in the large room. ardyn was quick to catch her crumbling body in his embrace, caressing her hair in tender strokes as she cried and heaved into his chest. “shh, shh, everything is alright...”

“w-when i had said i had practice, during our first time, this is what i meant! everything i said was only a milder version of what happened. i never had a job in niflheim, i never had a boss, i never was able to stand up for myself until i met you, ardyn!” venus wails, her small fingers digging into his shirt and nails scraping through and leaving marks on his back. “when that man took pictures of us, it only reminded me of all the videos and photos they taunted me with! they told me i could never be with anyone else, that i would never leave! i just-- i just... ahah...” soon venus was speaking nonsense, babbling as she sobbed still. it was so hard to breathe as she hyperventilated and shook violently. 

ardyn holds her tightly, not daring to loosen his grip. he was whispering softly in her ear, hand petting her hair slowly and evenly, promising that he would never let her go, and that she would never see the faces of those men ever again, or gods help him he would go berserk and possibly murder them. venus pulls back just enough to press her lips against ardyn’s face, kissing his cheeks, his nose, his forehead, temple, lips, jaw, trailing her shaky, clammy fingers over his skin in an attempt to show her appreciation. “you single-handedly saved my life... you saved me from an unbearable fate... ardyn... chancellor ardyn izunia...” she says his name, his full name, his title, trying to ground herself as her mind soared to impossible heights, jumbling everything she ever believed in.

"i'm sorry, ardyn... i'm so sorry for ever lying to you, im sorry..." he pulls her into his lap, curling his weight over her, giving her pressure to comfort her. everything that had happened up until now, seemed to be a blessing in disguise, to bring her to this man who would make her want to live again. to bring her away from the constant abuse. she was forever grateful and in his debt. ardyn kisses away her tears, one hand resting against her neck, another against her cheek as he responded with whispers of her name in her ear and kisses on her skin.

“venus... i promise i will never let anything like this happen to you again. _**i would kill every being in eos before i would let you get hurt again.”**_


End file.
